On the muddy path to righteousness...
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Coming home from this exhilarating mountain bike ride I was muddy, tired and on a real adrenaline high. I’d had my eye on the track between Loch Duntelchaig and the Loch Ruthven road for years, but somehow never got round to giving it a go.
So this chilly autumn morning I decided to head up the minor road to Essich and go exploring not far from my home in Inverness.
You can start this ride anywhere in Inverness but I’ve taken it from the Essich Roundabout on the B8082. It’s possible to park a car on the residential streets around here if you’re coming from further afield.
It doesn’t take long before the hills kick in on this ride, and half a mile after the roundabout I was dropping down the gears to climb the minor road towards Loch Ashie.
Then I saw a sight which made me chuckle — on the steep climb I went past a man cycling up the hill with a fishing rod over his shoulder and an open can of Scrumpy Jack in hand. We exchanged “good mornings” as I overtook him, doing a double-take as I saw the drink!
On reaching a house at Essich, take the left turn signed for Bunachton and Dunlichity and climb past the new electricity sub-station and out onto the moor.
To my left I could see the Monadhliaths with a dusting of snow on them, while to the right the Great Glen hills stretched high above the hidden Loch Ness. The gradient eases as you pass under the pylons and continue on this quiet road to Bunachton.
Immediately after passing the Mains of Bunachton on the left, look out for a track with a metal gate across it on the right. Go through the gate and follow the excellent track past a ruined building on a corner to another gate at the entrance to Loch Ashie Forest.
Take the left fork, now on rougher forest tracks, and descend through the trees. I passed a couple walking the other way but otherwise I had most of this whole route to myself. Ignore a track going back on itself to the right at one point and continue where the way goes back uphill.
Keep ahead on the grassy and mossy track where another track — marked on the OS map — goes left, and follow it carefully downhill. Look out at a clearing where a fence has been erected across the track, with a small pedestrian gate just off the track to the left — if you’re going fast down here, it’s difficult to see the fence!
Soon you emerge at a minor road with views over Loch Duntelchaig and the autumn colours really make this view spectacular. From here I turned left down the hill to follow the road as it twists around the eastern edge of the loch along a stunning stretch of single-track road.
As you reach the end of the loch, keep your eye out for a track on the right just before a lay-by. It’s the entrance to the outlet works and is also the start of the track.
Peter Evans and I had been here not many weeks ago to explore some climbing crags but today I wanted to see exactly where the track went.
It hugs the shore of the loch after passing the works on a rough but rideable surface then climbs gradually, offering views across the forests and lochs even to the snow-capped top of Ben Wyvis.
The colours in the leaves were unbelievable and I really enjoyed the cycle through the autumn chill. Soon I reached the house at Leiterchullin — where a collie dog looked like it might try to herd me but eventually just watched as I went past — then climbed more steeply up into the conifer woods, ignoring a track off to the right.
The track keeps rising, going through a couple of hairpin bends at one point, until it eventually reaches the summit of the pass at around 370m. I was pleased the effort was rewarded with a cairn and an impressive view, so I stopped to take in the surroundings before beginning the descent.
The track drops round a series of bends with steep drops down to the right into the aptly named Loch a’Choire. After a right-hand bend, continue straight down ignoring a track left and you’ll soon get a wonderful sight of the loch with the cliffs of Creag Dhearg rising dramatically at its west side.
Follow the track down to the road and turn right along it, with Loch Ruthven now to your left.
The off-road section I had come to find had been a sensational mountain bike ride within easy reach of the Highland capital, but the on-road section here is also a fantastic part of the route. I usually cycle this road in the opposite direction, so it was good to enjoy going down the little S-bends beyond Dalcrombie before continuing to cross the causeway at the far end of Loch Duntelchaig, making this a rather satisfying circuit of one of the largest lochs in the South Loch Ness area.
After the causeway the road rises to a junction. Turn right here to join the B862 — where signs at the end of October warned that the road is closed during the week for the laying of new water mains. Keep on the main road, ignoring the sign right to Inverness, and descend the long, steep hill into Dores.
Almost a mile beyond the village, a new cycle route goes right behind the school signed for Inverness. Go through the parking area and join the superb cycle track around the edge of fields.
This section will eventually make up part of National Cycle Network Route 78, which will link Inverness with Fort Augustus, Fort William, Oban and Campbeltown.
Where it meets a minor road, go right then left on a corner to follow the superb back road all the way to Scaniport. Here, you turn right to join the main road and you can continue until the right turn to Torbreck.
However, I decided to get a final dose of off-road in, so took a right turn onto the track at Cullaird, going left onto a track in the woods after 30 yards or so. After detouring round some heavily waterlogged sections of track, cross straight over a good track to continue on the boggy one! Turn left at a track junction then follow the clearest line possible as a confusing series of paths and trails dart off in all directions.
This fun stretch certainly added to the dirt collection on me and the bike, but I was happy I’d done it as I turned right onto the Torbreck road where I emerged from the woods. Go left at the T-junction to return past the houses to the Essich roundabout.
I’d put in some effort, but I’ll not leave it so long before I return to this superb off-road outing again. This is why I love living in this part of the world.
